Venus Williams tells the Brazil Tennis Cup web site that she has come to terms with the fact that she will never been to rid herself of the autoimmune disease Sjorden’s Syndrome, but believes she can continue to play at a high level. Williams is playing her first tournament this week since the Australian Open.

“I’m always in recovery, because unfortunately my illness will not go away,” she said. “I have to recover every day. In my dreams, there would be the day when it left, but it will not happen. So I’ll keep working and doing my best. I just want to feel good. Even if I’m not feeling well, I’ll give 100 percent of myself on court. I do not want to complain about it. But I’m happy. I want to continue with my life, winning matches, return to the Top 10. I have a lot of work and challenges in my life.”

The seven-time Grand Slam champion, who is active on social media, says she will continue to use it even though she has received some harsh comments.

“Of course we have many people who just criticize and say ugly things to people in social media,” she said. “People who create fake profiles just to criticize, I feel sorry for them. But if someone bothers me, I block the person. I want to interact with my fans on social networks, but there are people who only want to bother me, so I just push the button to block. It’s sad to see people talking ugly things to me, but I don’t let it affect me.”